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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2015)
OPINION 6A Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Old building, new owner A Enlightened landlords are critical to a town’s revival storia’s rebirth would not have happened without en- lightened landlords. Some of those were non-prof- its, such as Liberty Restoration, Inc., which restored the Liberty Theater, and the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which re- stored the Astoria railway station and repurposed it the Barbey Maritime Center. Some landlords were pri- vate investors such as Chester Trabucco, who restored the Hotel Elliott or Robert Jacob, who built the Cannery Pier Hotel. Some were governments, such as the City of Astoria, which put City Hall through a complete upgrade, and Clatsop County, which restored the Guy Boyington Building. Bill Lind and Virginia Laughery, who have sold the Carruthers Building at 12th and Commercial, converted a former drug store (Owl Drug, which famously appeared in “Kindergarten Cop”) into a grand space that became a sculp- ture gallery and then a restau- rant. In all of these ventures, the property owners are local. That is a critical fact, because neglectful absentee landlords are the bane of small towns. Edward Eng of Los Angeles, for instance, was content to let the Liberty Theater slide into a state of deep atrophy. In selling the Carruthers Building to Jim Defeo, Bill Lind said he was especially pleased to find a buyer who was com- mitted to downtown’s future. A former Portland restaurateur who moved here in 2006, Defeo has made his mark by bringing new life to 11th Street with the Astoria Coffee House and Bistro as well as other properties. Big cities and small towns are in a constant cycle of deteriora- tion, decline, death and renewal. The same is true of the human population of those places. In that cycle, new blood with new ideas is essential. And that’s where a fertile mind like Defeo comes in. Watershed restoration good for wildlife, humans E Refuge could become increasingly important sanctuary fforts to restore tidal con- nections around the south end of Willapa Bay will reach a new milestone with completion of a project at Greenhead Slough east of Long Beach, Wash. The project on land acquired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in recent years aroused no vocal objections, in stark con- trast to earlier work that removed dikes along a far less publicly vis- ible shoreline abutting uninhab- ited hills owned by the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. In that earlier phase, objections largely came from hunters and nearby farmers who feared geese, ducks and elk would all be dislodged from accustomed habitat, along with officials worried about po- tential flooding of a county road. There is little evidence so far that adverse impacts resulted from the restoration work. The Greenhead project differs in several important respects. In its case, the “dike” is U.S. Highway 101, which won’t be removed or relocated — though sea level change could eventual- ly force a move later this century. Instead, water passage is being returned to something more like historical rates by eliminating an inadequate culvert, replacing it with a steel bridge. When it’s complete, more than 2,300 acres will become far more accessible to salmon and other species. Originally established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1937 to protect migratory birds traveling the eastern edge of the Pacific flyway, the Willapa ref- uge is certain to become increas- ingly important as a sanctuary and stop-off place for species fleeing drought and other cli- mate impacts. When it comes to fish, con- troversies between gillnetters and recreational fishermen, along with dissatisfaction with Washington state salmon-man- agement policies, shouldn’t obscure the fact that providing more habitat for salmon is bound to be a good thing. They won’t necessarily find places to spawn in the usually slow-moving wa- ters flowing into Greenhead Slough, but they will greatly benefit from 18 miles of streams in which to feed, mature and hide from predators. Although it has neared com- pletion without generating much public awareness, there may be some backlash as additional salt intrusion begins to effect fresh-water vegetation visible from the highway. Breeching dikes and allowing saltwa- ter back into former tidal flats around South Bend, Wash., is a continuing irritant for some in that community. Dike changes in Clatsop County haven’t gener- ated as much comment, thus far anyway, perhaps because histor- ic flood plains on the south side of the estuary were less exten- sive or have been more devel- oped, and so are less suited to restoration. Shoreline changes, wheth- er initiated by people or nature, will be one of the biggest stories of the 21st century. By taking the initiative and proactively managing the hydrology of lo- cal watersheds, we may forestall some negative consequences for habitats, highways and neigh- borhoods. THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015 Among the ruins, a case of righteousness done. Three weeks ago, for example, 150 Syrian Christians were airlifted to refuge and safety in Po- land. That’s the work of the Weidenfeld Safe Havens )XQG,WSURYLGHGWKHÀLJKW and will support the ref- ugees for as long as 18 months as they try to re- make their lives. doors,’” to explain why “I’m a man in a hurry.” Remarkably healthy and stunningly energetic (as ASHINGTON — Christi- distant cousins, we are anity, whose presence in the often in touch), he ap- Middle East predates Islam’s by 600 pears nowhere near any years, is about to be cleansed from exit doors. But he is the Middle East. Egyptian Copts aware of and deeply trou- may have found some respite under bled by the doors closing Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, but after their in on a community in Charles persecution under the previous Mus- Syria largely abandoned Krauthammer by the world. lim Brotherhood government, they In context, the scale of know how precarious their existence In those large the initial rescue is tragically small. in 90 percent Muslim Egypt re- The objective is to rescue 2,000 mains. Elsewhere, it’s much worse. swaths of families. Compared to the carnage Twenty-one Copts were beheaded in Syria wrought by the pitiless E\WKH,VODPLF6WDWHDI¿OLDWHLQ/LE\D Syria and Iraq combatants — 230,000 dead, half for the crime of being Christian. In the 22 million population driven those large swaths of Syria and Iraq where the from their homes — it’s a paltry where the Islamic State rules, the Islamic State sum. But these are real people who consequences for Christians are ter- will be saved. And for Weidenfeld, rible — enslavement, exile, torture, rules, the that counts. PDVVDFUHFUXFL¿[LRQ Yet he has been criticized for Over the decades, many Middle consequences rescuing just Christians. In fact, the Eastern Christians, seeing the rise U.S. government will not participate for Christians RISROLWLFDO,VODPDQGWKHLQWHQVL¿FD- because the rescue doesn’t extend to tion of savage sectarian wars, have are terrible — Yazidis, Druze or Shiites. simply left. Lebanon’s Christians, This comes under the heading of once more than half the population, enslavement, no good deed going unpunished. It’s are now estimated at about a third. a rather odd view that because he The number of Christians under Pal- exile, torture, cannot do everything, he should be estinian Authority rule in the West massacre, admonished for trying to do some- Bank has dwindled — in Bethle- thing. If Weidenfeld were a man of hem, for example, dropping by half. crucifixion. LQ¿QLWH PHDQV WKH FULWLFLVP PLJKW (The exception, of course, is Israel, be valid. As it is, he says rather sen- where Christians, Arab and non-Ar- ab, enjoy not just protection but civil The person behind all this is Lord sibly, “I can’t save the world.” The rights. Their numbers are increasing. George Weidenfeld: life peer, philan- Arab states, particularly the Gulf But that’s another story.) thropist, publisher (Weidenfeld & monarchies, are surely not without Most endangered are the Chris- Nicolson, established 1949), Euro- resources. With so few doing so lit- tians of Syria. Four years ago they peanist (founder of the Institute for tle for so many, he’s doing what he numbered about 1.1 million. By now Strategic Dialogue to promote classi- can. And for him, it’s personal. KDYH ÀHG 0DQ\ RI WKRVH cally liberal European values), proud remaining in country are caught ei- public Jew (honorary vice president In 1938, still a teenager, he was ther under radical Islamist rule or in of the World Jewish Congress), life- brought from Vienna to London WKH FURVV¿UH EHWZHHQ IDFWLRQV $V long Zionist (he once served as the where the Plymouth Brethren took the larger Christian world looks on FKLHIRI&DELQHWWR,VUDHO¶V¿UVWSUHV- him in and provided for him. He passively, their future, like the future ident, Chaim Weizmann) and, as he never forgot. He is trying to return of Middle Eastern Christianity writ will delightedly tell you, the last per- the kindness, he explains, to repay large, will be determined by Iran, VRQWR¿JKWDGXHODWWKH8QLYHUVLW\ the good that Christians did for him Hezbollah, the Assad dynasty, the Is- of Vienna — with sabers, against a 77 years ago. In doing so, he is not just giving hope and a new life to lamic State, the Nusra Front, various Nazi. (No one died.) other local factions and by regional Weidenfeld, now 95, once in- 150 souls, soon to be thousands. He powers seeking advantage. voked Torschlusspanik, “a German has struck a blow for something ex- Meanwhile, on a more limited phrase which roughly translates as ceedingly rare: simple, willful righ- scale, there are things that can be the ‘panic before the closing of the teousness. By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Washington Post Writers Group W Guns and the two Americas a week ago — a shooting theater in Lafayette, E\ D KDWH¿OOHG PDQ ZKR La., are not gun-free at all. They have no met- was able to legally obtain he waves of mass shootings a gun despite a history of al detectors or screen- continue to roll over the United mental illness — Rick Per- ing — that would cost too much, the theater States like surf on the ship of state’s ry called gun-free zones a owners claim. Gun-free prow. Every few weeks now we bad idea. is a suggestion, and get hit with a jolt of cold water. We In his view, echoing therefore a misnomer. shake and shudder, and then brace that of the fanatics who Eventually, the more ourselves for the next one. own the Republican Party prosperous theaters So we beat on — a nation whose by intimidation, everyone Timothy in better communities people are 20 times more likely to should be armed, every- Egan will pay for metal de- die of gun violence than those of where. Once a shooting most other developed countries. The starts, the bad guy with the gun will tectors, further setting apart the only thing extraordinary about mass be killed by the good guy with the two Americas in our age of mass shootings in America is how ordi- gun, somehow able to g et a draw on shootings. The Mall of America — more nary the killing grounds are — ele- the shooter in a darkened theater or than 500 stores in 4 miles of retail mentary schools, high schools, col- behind a pew in church. space, drawing 40 million annu- leges, military recruitment centers, al visitors to a climate-controlled theaters, parks, churches. part of Minnesota — is trying to Is no place safe? Actually, sev- What we’re be a gun-free zone. “Guns are eral places are. You want protection banned on these premises” is the in a country that allows a deranged moving mall’s official policy. man to get an assault weapon to hunt toward, then, If the mall took up Rick Perry’s down innocent people in a public suggestion, shoppers could roam space? Go to the airport — that bub- are regions among the chain stores packing ble of gun-free security. Or go to a heat, ready for a shootout. The Major League Baseball game, or that are safer owners of that vast operation, sim- a stadium in the National Football ilar to those who stage concerts League. than others, and pro sports, think otherwise. Our big league venues may be and public The mall has a security force of engaging only in security theater, as more than 100 people. Yeah — I critics assert, but their owners don’t spaces that hear the joke about the feckless think so. They now mandate metal mall cops. But the Mall of Amer- detectors to snag weapons, and most are safer than ica trusts them more than well- of them even ban off-duty cops from armed shoppers to protect people, bringing guns to the games. others, led as they should. Nationwide, if you want to lessen by private Surprising though it may seem, your chances of getting shot, stay out gun ownership is declining overall of the South. The South is the most enterprise, in the United States. We are still violent region in the United States awash with weapons — nearly a and also the place with the highest shunning the third of all American households rate of gun ownership. More guns, have an adult with a gun. But easily obtained by the mentally ill, gun crazies that’s down from nearly half of all religious fanatics and anti-govern- who want households in 1973. ment extremists, mean more gun What we’re moving toward, deaths. everyone then, are regions that are safer Better to go to a city or state with than others, and public spaces that gun restrictions, at least if you’re armed. are safer than others, led by pri- playing the odds. Most of the states vate enterprise, shunning the gun with tighter gun laws have fewer gun deaths. This scenario almost never crazies who want everyone armed. That’s one America, the slightly happens. The logic is nonsense, The new reality comes with the in- safer one. It includes government the odds of a perfectly timed convenience and hassle of screen- gun-screened zones like airports, counter-killer getting the drop on ing and pat-downs similar to the courthouses and many high schools. the evil killer unlikely. And even routines at airports — enforced %XWPRUHVLJQL¿FDQWO\LWDOVRFRYHUV when such a situation does hap- gun-free zones, not mere sugges- property used by our most popular pen, as in the Tucson shooting tions. As a way to make everyday obsession, pro football — the free of 2011, the armed citizen who market at work. jumps into the melee can pose a life seem less frightening, the new The other America is an open- mortal threat to others. In Tucson, reality is absurd. But that’s the ¿UH]RQHEDFNHGE\SROLWLFLDQVZKR an innocent person came with- cost, apparently, of an extreme think it should be even more crowd- in seconds of getting shot by an interpretation of a constitutional ed with average people parading armed bystander who wasn’t sure amendment designed to fend off British tyranny, a freedom that has around with lethal weapons. Just af- whom to shoot. ter the tragedy in a Louisiana theater Most gun-free zones, like the become a tyranny in itself. By TIMOTHY EGAN New York Times News Service T
